Cover illustration for Art South Africa. Art, non-art and Zulu Dada. The Tretchikoff Conundrum. The article, titled The Tretchikoff Conundrum and written by Karin Preller, took a look at the critical response in the media and the art world. Here is a short excerpt: "Humour is a feature of many reviews, mainly as a vehicle to express extreme distaste. Pollak describes Tretchikoff's animal paintings as "riddled with paralysis"; the portraits as evidence of "his mortician's brush imbuing every sitter with rigor mortis"; his technical ability a fallacy "to be viewed with the gravest suspicion" – grass looking like "fried parsley", fur "as tough and abrasive as a new doormat". The list goes on, but Pollak's conclusion is that Tretchikoff's work remained "static and intellectually null".7 In a review on ArtThrob Sean O'Toole focuses on the hype of opening night, eventually linking the work with the sugary snacks on offer: "The painter is really a pastry chef. His specialty is cupcakes and alluring tartlets. I pause in front of a marshmallow that pretends to be a layer cake. It is nominally a still life."8 On a more serious note, O'Toole finds the work "beyond criticism", implying that any kind of critical…

A small selection of weekly newspaper illustrations done since 1992. (Gallery below ...)Says Vivian van der Merwe: "The work of Francois is distinguished by a rare marriage of innovative technique, potent yet subtle imagery, and a highly sophisticated sense of visual form. Like the best traditional visual artists (especially painters and printmakers), Francois uses his digital medium and tools with impressive mastery. Unlike popular work by most of the younger generation of digital artists and illustrators, you never sense or see the medium. The medium, or visualisation process, never intrudes or "shows off". It never postures. Perhaps it is the fact that Francois has literally grown up with the various evolutions of graphics software and hardware that allows him to work almost unconsciously with his medium. Where imagery does pixel-ate, or textures do become digitized, or you do glimpse evidence of digital aesthetics, you always sense that these references to the medium are not accidental or unwanted. Many years ago, when Francois worked with oil paint, these same qualities of objectification of the medium and process were distinguishing features of his art too. This has become a hallmark of Francois' work." "Whereas a studio painter would classically use a paintbrush,…